Despite the brisk winter weather, President Christina Paxson, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and more than 30 others gathered Wednesday morning for the topping-off ceremony of the Building for Environmental Research and Teaching.

The ceremony took place outside of the renovated building, the former Hunter Laboratory, and included a series of speakers who were involved in the construction and planning process of the building. It also featured the harnessing of the final structural beam, which was signed by the attendees before being set in place. While the scheduled completion date for the renovation of the building is not until fall of 2013, the ceremony celebrated a landmark moment in the $35 million project.